A Preacher's Daughter
by Hippo1611
Summary: When searching for little lost Sofia, Daryl runs into a woman who just might give him a run for his money, but there's more to this preacher's daughter than he barganed for. Daryl/OC
1. Chapter 1

(Takes place during Season 2 episode 1)

Daryl stalked, crossbow in hand, back to the highway. Rick had given Daryl the responsibility of leading the others back through the thick forest, while Rick, Shane and Carl stayed behind to look for Sophia. With every step he could hear Carol's soft tears. Poor woman, losing her daughter like that, but Carol's pain was of little concern to Daryl. The thing he cared about was finding Sophia. He walked with the group for what seemed like forever, silently tracking Sophia the whole time, just in case she found a way back to the highway. He couldn't let the group, mostly Carol, know he was looking. He didn't want to give her false hope. Night was falling and Daryl knew little Sophia had almost no chance of surviving the night, with animals and hungry walkers out in unfamiliar woods. But he prayed.

Suddenly, he heard a soft rustle of trees to the left of them. Daryl was the only one with a weapon and if the group was attacked by walkers, they would lose people. He motioned to the group to get low and stay quiet.

He dropped to his knees and aimed the crossbow at the area where the sound had come from. Just before he was about to fire into the trees, Carol grabbed his arm "No! It could be my baby." She half whispered in a panic. He knew it probably wasn't but he studied the faces of the group, all fear and loss.

Then he turned to Carol "Let me check it out. Don't you dare move or make any noise. If something happens, just keep going on the path we are on, understand?" he looked from Carol to Glenn then he nodded for Glenn to take control. Daryl rose from his knelt position in the grass, back arched down, he crept over to where the noise came from. He grabbed the trunk of a tall tree and peered around it. In a flash, he was struck in the face, and thrown to the ground. Within seconds, his attacker lept on him but somehow, in a fury of kicks and elbows he managed to land a hard punch to the person's ribs. "Ack" the noise came from the person. They quickly rolled off of Daryl but left him with a hard elbow to the chin. Daryl attempted to get up, but the person was sitting on his chest restricting any movement. Now he could see who it was. A girl. More like a woman. She raised a crowbar over her head and brought it down. Just before Daryl received metal to the face, she stopped mid swing.

"Holy shit, you're human." The young woman's big blue eyes inspected Daryl's face. Her long, red hair fell in strands around her face as she lowered the crowbar to the ground. He stared at her porcelain skin, then grabbed her arm and pulled her off of him. He quickly jumped to grab his crossbow and he aimed it straight at her. As soon as she realized what had happened the unfamiliar woman smacked the ground and lept to her feet, crowbar poised for another fight. "Who the hell are you?" she asked.

By now the whole group was standing behind Daryl, staring at her in wonder and amazement. It had taken bother Rick and Shane to bring Daryl down in a fight, and they were trained cops. "We're looking for a little girl, you seen her?" Daryl asked in a gruff, not so friendly voice. Carol stumbled up to where Daryl stood, clutching his arm.

The stranger examined Carol quickly then turned back to Daryl, adopting a defiant stance. "Blonde, bout yay high, left alone in the woods to die? Might've seen something, who wants to know?" she swung her crowbar in her a circle as she spoke. No inflections in her voice. Carol took an unsteady step forward.

"I'm her mother." She almost sobbed. The woman raised her eyebrows at Carol.

"Well you're doing a fine job, ma'am." The woman said sarcastically. Carol almost broke down in sobs. The woman watched Carol with pity. "Ok Momma, calm down and come here." She motioned for Carol to step closer with her index finger. Carol took a few steps forward, when she was close enough, the woman grabbed her arm. "You bit?" she said, inspecting the worry stricken mother, turning her this way and that. "No" Carol replied sheepishly. "You scratched?" the woman inquired again. Carol simply shook her head. She then pushed Carol back toward the group. "You wanna lower that crossbow?" she said a little louder to Daryl.

"No." was his only reply. The stranger sighed and tuned her head, all the while keeping her eyes on Daryl.

"Sophia. Sweetie you can come out now." She called in a soft tone, one which the group had not heard before. A small blonde girl, holding a .44 pistol emerged from a nearby tree. When Sophia caught sight of her mother, she dropped the gun and ran to her mother. Carol dropped to her knees sobbing, wrapping Sophia in a hug. Instead of watching the happy reunion, the woman picked the weapon from the ground while Daryl watched her. He had never met someone like her, well he hadn't officially met her either but he knew this woman would give him a run for his money. He needed to know this woman, but he knew he never could.

"Are you alone?" Lori questioned. Maybe this strange woman needed help.

"Yes." She said, she hadn't realized that Lori was there. All of her attention was on Daryl.

"What's your name?" Glenn asked her from behind Lori.

"Helena." She replied never looking away from the man with a crossbow fixed at her head. "Are you ever going to put that bow down?" she questioned Daryl.

"No." he stared at her.

"Why not?"

"You elbowed me in the face!" He roared at her. Unfazed by his anger she smirked at him.

"You startled me." Everyone snickered except Daryl. His lips curled back in an animalistic snarl.

"Why don't you join us Helena? We could use another pair of eyes." Lori gave Helena a reassuring smile. Helena hadn't noticed the embrace of Carol and Sophia had lasted this long, but as soon as their hug broke, Carol jumped on Helena, grabbing the unsuspecting woman in a hug. Daryl watched Helena's reaction, first she stiffened and then she awkwardly put her arms around the ecstatic mother, then, as she felt more comfortable, she relaxed and hugged Carol.

She smiled at Carol as they let go of each other. Then switched her gaze to Lori. "Umm, sure I guess I could for a little." She took Lori's outstretched hand and followed her past Daryl, giving him a quick glance.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Someone should go let Rick and Shane know we have Sophia." Carol said to the group as they walked. Lori and Andrea volunteered to go back, Daryl silently handed them the extra gun he had in the back of the waistband of his jeans. Then he turned and casually walked ahead of the group. After a little bit Helena caught up with him.

"Hey, I'm sorry bout earlier, I um…well you know what it's like out here. Either way, sorry. Hope I didn't hurt you too bad." She smiled faintly and nudged him in the bicep. Nothing but my pride, he thought to himself, nope that's a lie, my jaw hurts too. He looked down at the beautiful woman walking next to him. She was incredible. Her red hair falling softly along the sides of her heart-shaped face. Her tattered yellow sundress flapping modestly around her knees. Though they were shuffling through a thicket of grass, branches, and dirt, she took each stride with grace and ease, she must be familiar with the woods. His eyes traveled up her body, finally reaching her eyes. Those blue eyes were still looking at him…she had said something. She had apologized, he remembered. You wanted to get to know this girl, here's your chance dumbass, don't screw it up. He ignored her apology. Talk about something that makes you sound like you know what you're doing.

"Did you see the herd of walkers on the highway?" He was too nervous to look at her so he just stared ahead. He couldn't help himself though he had to glance down, to see her angelic face. She gave him a big smile, obviously pleased that he was speaking with her.

"You think I'd be all alone in the woods if I could use a nice, safeish highway?" He grunted in response. She couldn't lose the conversation "Ya, I saw a whole bunch of them coming my way so I went into the woods to hide. How did you get out here?"

"Looking for Sophia, We were on the highway when the herd passed. Two of them caught Sophia's scent so they chased her into the woods."

"Oh" was all she could say.

"Ya" Daryl replied. He wanted to hear her voice so badly. He wanted to know all about her, everything. "We umm, We are headed out of town, if you wanna join." He nervously glanced down at her, maybe the invite was too much.

"Maybe, I mean if everyone else doesn't mind." He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Where were you when this all happened?" He asked they were approaching the highway and he was worried that she would split off to meet Dale or someone.

"Church" She smiled at him when he froze awkwardly. "Don't ya like my Sunday best?" she teased. He looked her over, not inspecting the dress. He felt his stomach twist and flashes of her in unwholesome positions entered his mind. Think of something else damn it! He tried to focus on her clothes not what was under them. He noticed her boots. He sat down on the hood of a car, at the edge of the highway and turned his head. The boots were combat boots, military issued. They looked very out of place with her innocent yellow sundress. "Nice boots." He lowered his head and looked up at her.

She laughed "Thanks," She sat down next to Daryl and lifted her leg so he could get a better look at them, "I killed a walker for 'em." The proximity was killing Daryl, the ache in his stomach was back and his hands twitched and burned. He wanted to touch her, to feel her bare skin against his. He tried to hide his arousal by laughing lightly. He grabbed the heel of her boots and inspected them.

"You killed a walker for his boots?" he looked at her with a slight smile. She was tough but she seemed so innocent.

"Well I couldn't exactly go walking around in my heels, now could I?" he let go of her boot and she lowered her leg. She was very childlike; it made her seem so youthful. He wondered how old she truly was. Please be at least eighteen, he thought. What did it matter if she was eighteen? It's not like there's anyone to arrest him if she wasn't, but he would feel like a criminal still.

"How old are you?" He had to know.

"Twenty three. How old are you?" She raised her eyebrows at him, jokingly. He awkwardly tried to change the subject, but she saw right through it. He was at least thirty, maybe almost forty, she knew that much.

"Are you from Atlanta?" he asked her. She shook her head no, and then proceeded to tell him that she was from Chattanooga, Tennessee.

"My Daddy was a preacher." She had said. The congregation was overrun during Sunday service, and she got out of town as quick as possible. She had the same idea they did, try the CDC, but it wasn't standing anymore, and Daryl knew why. So she would go find somewhere else, with people that were still human. Daryl listened intently, memorizing every word. He didn't dare ask about her family. She had said her father WAS a preacher, so he was probably either dead or undead.

"Helena," he said "If you wanna stay with the group you can. We would be happy to have you." He wanted to make sure that she was safe, no matter what. She smiled in response.

"I kind of miss being around other people, you know?" She said "You ever been to Tennessee, I mean before?"

"No. I've never been anywhere but Georgia. I mean before." He looked deep into her eyes, there was hope tainted by sadness in them.

"You would've loved it." She half smiled up at him.


	3. Chapter 3

Daryl sat staring at the burning embers of the small campfire. It was September but it was already freezing. He wished that he could build up the fire more, but he understood that a big fire or comfort were not luxuries that he, or anyone else, could afford. He could hear the voice of his father yelling in his head. "Stop complaining! Only wimps complain about shit like that! So it's cold, so you're hungry, BE A MAN!" Those words stuck with him. Be a man. He was too young to understand what a man was supposed to be. He couldn't have been more than nine years old, but that didn't matter. He was on his first hunting trip with his father and Merle, on a cold September night, similar to the one he was experiencing now. He had been yelled at all day because he needed to shoot straighter, be quieter, and be whatever his father wanted, only better. His father was angry because they hadn't caught anything during the day, and he blamed Daryl. He had asked his father for something to eat; his only reply was "You didn't catch anythin' did ya?" Daryl simply shook his head bearing the realization that he wouldn't be eating that night. He watched his family eat beans out of a can while Daryl huddled close to the beloved source of warmth, but it wasn't enough. His father yelled and struck him in the back of the head. He had looked to Merle for help, some kind of support, but his brother only watched. He was raised to believe in brotherhood and that family is something to always rely on. When Merle was stranded, he had cried for him, searched for him, risked his life for him, but, remembering that trip, he had to wonder if Merle would do the same for him.

"Hey" he heard. Helena was standing next to him, staring down worriedly. "Are you okay? You're kinda freaking me out." She said as she sat down next to him. How long had she been there without him noticing? She seemed genuinely concerned.

"Fine." He mumbled as he poked the dying fire with a stick lying in the dirt.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she questioned softly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. She had only known Daryl for a short time but she thought they were friends at least.

"This isn't story time, if you wanna talk about mother fuckin' goose go talk to Sofia and Carl." He snapped, shaking off her hand. He wasn't angry with her but thinking about Merle put him in a bad mood. He didn't want to take it out on her, but she was the only person he could without starting a fight.

"Whatever prick." She nudged him lightly. "It's so cold out here." She said as she rubbed her arms and looked dazedly at the fire. If it weren't so cold she would probably be asleep by now, it must be at least three in the morning. Her eyelids were heavy and her head drooped down in sleep. In a second her head snapped up and her blue eyes looked around, noticing Daryl looking at her. He thought back to the day they met, remembered how beautiful she is, remembered hoe she protected Sofia. He rubbed his chin as he remembered the elbow she delivered to his face.

"I have question for you." He looked over at her as she struggled to keep her eyes open. She gave a lazy hmmm for him to continue. "Why did you give Sofia the gun?" her eyes snapped open and she looked at him in confusion. "The first day we met, Sofia had a gun, meaning you must've given it to her, I want to know why." It didn't make sense for her to give Sofia, the weaker of the two of them, their most useful weapon.

"Well" she adjusted herself and thought for a moment, "We had a crowbar or a gun. Sofia isn't big enough to use the crowbar effectively. The that leaves her with the gun, which is easier to use in general, she doesn't have to get too close to a walker, and if we got separated or something happened she could protect herself." She said matter-of-factly.

"But if something happened you would be SOL." He said in bewilderment.

"But she wouldn't." she smiled. So Helena would rather die than take the chance that Sofia could be bitten. She calmly moved closer to Daryl and laid her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes.

"Hey you" he said without moving, "Haven't you heard of a personal bubble?" he said staring at her. She looked him straight in the eyes, lifted her hand and pointed her index finger.

"Pop" she said as she popped his imaginary bubble and lay down lightly on his shoulder again. He watched her with a grimace. They sat there for a while and, without realizing it, he drifted off to sleep as well.

~…~

Daryl awoke with a shudder, blinking his eyes in the sunlight, realizing Helena was no longer laying on his shoulder. He surveyed his surroundings, Shane, Rick and carl were off to the side, fiddling with a small .44 caliber gun while Lori was watching them intently while pretending to listen to dale, and T-dog was talking with Glenn. Andrea and Helena were nowhere to be found and he couldn't see Carol either, they were probably looking for berries or something in the woods. Typical girls, he didn't care as long as they didn't bring back poison mushrooms, they probably couldn't tell the difference. Daryl stood, his body stiffening and creaking, and walked over to the two cops and the young boy.

"What's going on here?" he shouted to them.

"We are teaching Carl here to use a gun, just in case." Rick replied with a smile as he clapped his son on the shoulder.

"He should've been taught before." Daryl huffed, he learned to shoot at age 7, Carl should be a pro by now.

"Better late than never." Shane replied, giving Daryl a look that screamed for him to back off. Daryl huffed again but left it alone. Rick gave him a Carl a small demo on re loading the gun, showing him to turn the safety on, click the magazine into place, and check to see if he had a bullet in the chamber. Then he handed his son the gun, instructing him to do exactly as he was shown. Carl proceeded to check the safety, and do as his father had shown him. "Now don't fire it, we don't want the geeks all over us." Shane smiled down at the boy. Carl was having trouble replacing the magazine, twisting the gun until he got it in. then he checked if one was in the chamber, it was.

"There," Carl smiled triumphantly. Just as he said that the gun slipped from his hand and hit the ground, causing it to go off. Everyone jumped at the sound of the shot and Carl looked up at Rick horrified.

"Shit." Daryl said, "He sure needs some damn practice." He looked plaintively at Rick. Dale and Lori came jogging up to the group followed quickly by T-dog and Glenn.

"We are far enough away from the town, maybe no one heard it," said Dale while Glenn agreed hopefully.

"You really think no one heard that?" spat T-dog. Dale only shrugged.

"We should move, start packing up camp." Rick looked at the faces of the group and moved to start packing.

"We have to wait for the girls, they're not back yet." Said Dale, "They left a while ago, they should be back soon."

"We will wait for them but we can get a head start on packing." said Rick. Daryl and the rest of the group began to pack, waiting for the girls.

They heard rustling of branches and everyone turned to look for the source, had the geeks heard the shot? Carol emerged carrying a bucket with Helena smiling next to her, swinging her crowbar around next to her, while Andrea tagged along behind them. "We heard a shot, was that you guys?" Andrea questioned from behind the women.

"Yeah, we're packing up camp just in case there are any walkers in the area" Glenn said. The girls all looked at each other and went to work. Everyone was packing when all of a sudden Walkers surrounded the group, emerging from the tree line. Lori and Carol grabbed the children while everyone hurried to get their weapons. Daryl grabbed his crossbow, hitting one, two then three walkers, but they were everywhere. One grabbed him around the arm, attempting to bite down, but Daryl punched it in the face then shot it with his crossbow. As he turned, he saw another walker directly in front of him, he wouldn't be fast enough. This is it, Daryl though as the zombie grabbed onto him. Then a crowbar smacked the walker on the side of the head, jarring Daryl from its grip and killing it. Helena was standing there, bloody crowbar in hand.

"What the hell kinda preacher's daughter are you?" said Daryl, astonished.

"The best kind." She said with a smile before she took to beating as many walkers as she could.


	4. Chapter 4

**I have a question for everybody….anybody feeling a little smut later in the story IDK if I should yet but what do you guys think? Leave a comment and thanks for all the support and feedback!3 Also, if you guys want more action in the stories let me know. **

"Don't worry, you'll be safe." Helena cooed as she laid her younger sister on the pews of the abandoned church. "The Lord will protect us, this is his house you know that." She kissed her sister's head lightly, and lay down next to her.

"The Lord didn't protect Mommy, from getting sick, or Papa from hurting himself and Reggie." The little blonde girl looked up at her with hurt filled eyes, playing with the silver cross around her neck.

"Papa lost faith, he took our brother with him, and Momma was God's will, Evie." Helena hugged little Evangeline lose to her.

"What if it's God's will for you to go away, or me to be sick like Mommy?"

Helena looked down at her sister and stroked her hair. "God will protect you, and if he won't, I will." She said softly and the pair drifted off to sleep.

**~…~**

Helena, Glenn and Daryl drove quietly, leading the caravan, to the eventual salvation of the military base.

"Don't understand Andrea," Daryl mused, "she's slowing giving up." Glenn peeked his head from around the back of Helena's seat.

"It's hard" he said quietly defending her.

"it's weak!" Daryl spat back.

"Submission is altogether more burdensome in its last stages than in its beginning, for as one goes on, more and more is lost. Raul Hilberg." Helena stared though the windshield as she had before, as if she had said nothing.

"What the hells that mean?" Daryl looked at her, confusion and frustration plastered on his face.

She didn't look at him but said "It means that sometimes, giving up is harder than toughing it out, because you lose more when you give up, in this case it's your life."

"Jenner called it opting out." Glenn interjected from the backseat.

"Opting out is the easy way, living is much harder." Daryl snorted at their comments.

"You've never thought about it, Daryl? The easy way out as you call it?" she turned to look at him but her face was blank, her tone unusually serious.

"No." he said. He pushed harder on the gas pedal, lurching the car forward.

"What about your brother?" Helena said and Daryl shot her a look indicating that he didn't want to talk about it, but Helena pushed on, "He's only missing now, what if he was dead? Andrea's sister became a walker, she had to kill her own sister, could you shoot Merle if it came to it?" she stared at him with a sadness everyone in the car could feel.

Daryl gritted his teeth "if it came to it." He said tightening his grip on the steering wheel.

"What about your mother?" Helena murmured softly, staring out the windshield again. The car fell silent. Daryl looked at the beautiful woman in his passenger seat and knew exactly why she asked that question. He wouldn't say that he knew though, she probably had a hard enough time with it.

"Is that what happened to you?" Glenn leaned forward and rested his chin on Helena's seat. _Damn idiot_, Daryl thought, _why you gotta ask her that?_

"Sort of." She said glancing back at him. _Nice, avoid the question, good girl._

"What does sort of mean?" Glenn prompted. Daryl rolled his eyes.

"We're done with this conversation." He said before Helena could answer, so they sat silent for the rest of the time, until they came to a small church on the side of the road.

Daryl watched as the young redhead stepped out of the old truck and walked through the grass up to the huge wooden doors. She placed a soft hand on the doors as they creaked open, allowing just enough room for her to step inside.

"Helena, don't go in there!" Daryl yelled from the driver's seat as he scrambled out the already opened door. She ignored him as always, and lightly stepped into the small church. She silently walked through the pews, her hand gliding over every one. Daryl quickly fell in lock step behind her, cross bow ready, surveying the area. There were no people, no dead, and no walkers. It was completely empty. _What happened here? _Daryl looked around at the little Baptist church, the light brown, wooden pews were empty, there was no statue, only a cross and a podium. It had an eerie, dead feeling, but there was no reason, it was not dead, just empty. As he was surveying the room, he came to realize that Helena had stopped at one of the pews at the front. He became aware of this because he slammed into her when she stopped, but she didn't seem to notice. She was preoccupied by a small, glinting, silver necklace. As she grabbed the chain and held it up, Daryl noticed the shiny metal formed the shape of a cross. She whirled around to face him and said,

"Help me out, would ya?" she held up the necklace for him to take, tuned and lifted her hair. He held to cross in his hand for a few moments, it was freezing cold and looked almost brand new. How odd. Hid hands lightly caressed the skin of her neck as he clasped the necklace around it. He dropped his hands but she didn't move, so neither did he. Daryl stood there for a few moments, simply watching her. She seemed frozen, staring in front of her as if watching dream unfold, hypnotized.

"Helena?" Daryl whispered. His voice seemed to shock her out of her dream-state and her hand reached up to lightly touch the cross now hanging at the base of her neck.

"Thanks," she muttered under her breath. With that she turned on her heels and quickly existed the small church. Daryl was too stunned to move, he had no idea what had just happened. Once he finally regained his senses, he bolted through the church, out the doors, and down the stairs. Helena was halfway across the grass, heading in a b-line back to the truck and a very impatient Glenn.

"Helena, Helena!" he yelled as he caught up to her and attempted to keep in step with her very quick pace. "What the hell was that? Is that necklace yours?" he questioned. He knew to never ask people about what had happened or their life before they met him but he had to know.

"No." she said without looking at him or faltering at all.

"So it was just some random, poor dead suckers?" he asked. _Did she know who used to have it? Was it the church her father preached at?_

"Not random. It was my sister's." was all she said.


	5. Chapter 5

**** WARNING**** there is a lot of cussing in this chapter, if any cussing offends you please do not read it. Thanks 3

"Sister?" questioned Daryl plaintively. There's got to be a story there.

"Ya." She said walking with a determination he had never seen in her.

"Well? You gonna talk or do I have to make you?" Daryl grabbed Helena's arm and spun her around to face him.

"WHAT?" Helena screamed, "What the hell is that? I ask you to talk about shit all the time and you blow me off, but as soon as you want to know something I'm supposed to be an open book, huh?" She was so loud and she was flailing her arms around like a crazy person. Daryl had never seen her loose her cool like that, it scared him.

"Well that's different." Daryl said matter of factly. _Man up. You can't be afraid of her. She's a tiny, fragile girl. I ain't scared._

"How the fuck is it different?" she said as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Please enlighten me as to how it's so damn different. Is it cause you're better than me? Or just cause you're the man, which gives you some kind of authority over me?" _Nope, I'm definitely scared._

"You're a chick, right? An.. an…and chicks got all these….feelin's an shit. And while y'all bitch 'bout your problems, you expect men like me to listen to like it's damn gospel." With realizing he had raised his voice and matched her crazy gestures. "Well, I'm gonna be a gentleman so here's your fuckin podium, your audience is waitin'." He needed her so badly to talk to him, to trust him with her feelings but now he realized what he said my not have been the best way to get her to do that.

"OH! I don't expect you to listen to me at all Daryl and nobody expects you to be a man, LEAST OF ALL A GENTLEMAN!" Helens yelled as she turned on her heels and stalked away toward the woods.

"Awe hell. HELENA! Damn it." Daryl yelled after her. "Get your ass back here!" He turned to chase after her but she was nowhere in sight.

~~…~~

Helena walked through the thicket of branches and dirt littering the ground. She was far enough into the woods now that he wouldn't be able to get to her for a little while. She knew that he would come after her, but she was far enough away to give herself some time to cool off. _What a jackass, _she thought to herself.

"What bullshit, leave me to my own damn problems." She mumbled under her breath as she smacked a tree branch out of her way. "It's none of your damn business!" she yelled back into the warm Georgian air. She continued walking, deeper and deeper into the forest, steam practically coming out of her ears. She charged forward, unaware of her surroundings, Daryl would find her eventually.

"Why what have we got here?" Helena heard a gruff man's voice in front of her, causing her gaze to shoot up. There very mangy men stood in front of her, giving her to up and down. All three were tall broad shouldered and muscular. One was missing teeth, the other two had false teeth made of gold and silver. Not exactly what people would classify as good Christian folk, some very redneck boys. They kinda reminded her of Daryl in that aspect, except that Daryl was more handsome while these men were more…repulsive. She couldn't take all three of them. Judging by their stature, she might be able to take one out but by the time she would've started on the second, the third would have her down. "How are you doin' pretty girl?" one man said taking a few threatening steps toward her.

"Just fine, thank you." She tried to add as much menace to her voice as she could muster, but it came out shaky and fearful. All the men laughed at her and moved toward her, inching closer. She took a couple steps back, getting ready to run, scream for Daryl. She turned on her heel but they knew what she was up to. Two of them grabbed her while the other slapped his hand against her mouth, to silence her.

"Now where you goin' huny?" they cooed as forced her against a tree and tied her wrists. "You wouldn't dream of leavin' us now would ya misses." She bit down on the man's hand, when he yelped in pain and pulled his hand away she screamed as loud as she could, she was sure Daryl heard that. She screamed until she was silenced by a hard slap to the face making her right eye felt like it was going to explode. "Bitch" muttered the man with a bloody, bite mark on his hand. They forced Helena into a sitting position. She struggled against the rope around her wrists but all she could do was loosen them.

"I'm not alone you know." She said strongly.

"Sure you ain't, darling" They laughed.

"My friend's going to come for me, and just so you know, my friend isn't the forgiving sort." She rustled with her bonds. She sat there for a good twenty minutes while they sorted through all of her things, taking whatever they wanted. All of a sudden she heard her name shouted through the trees. "Daryl!" she yelled, "There are three, and they're human." They silenced her with another slap. One of the men went to go "take care of the problem", but Daryl wasted an arrow by shooting him in the knee and delivering a good punch, fracturing his jaw. He then proceeded to be her knight in shining armor by beating the other two bloody while she wriggled out of her bonds. She stood up and stepped toward him, "Daryl". HE turned toward her, anger made his face ten different shades of red as he forcefully grabbed her by the elbow and towed her out of the forest. They reached the patch of grass by the church and she squirmed in his grasp, he had been eerily silent the entire way through the woods. "Ow, Daryl, you're hurting me." She said.

"Shut up!" he snapped at her, not loosening his grip on her elbow at all.

"What? Have you lost your mind?" she said, pulling her arm away from him. That set him off.

"I SHOULD ASK YOU THE SAME THING!" he yelled, blood vessels popping in his neck. "You run off into the woods, unprotected, god knows what's out there. You can handle walkers, you people skills need a little work. Don't you ever run off like that again!"

"You're not my father or my husband; I'm not your responsibility. I don't need your protection, I'm Twenty-three years old, I'm not a child!" She wanted to be respected, how could he think of her like a baby who needs to be taken care of?

"Oh no? Well you sure as hell act like one!" He said grabbing onto her elbow and dragging her toward the truck. She wasn't light on her feet and graceful like she usually was, she was stumbling trying to keep up with him, he couldn't slow down though, he was so frustrated. He opened the door to the truck and looked at the stunned Glenn. "Get your scrawny ass in the truck." Her said throwing her into the passenger seat.

"SCREW YOU!" she yelled as he slammed the door in her face and walked around the front of the truck and jumped in the driver's seat. He threw the truck into gear and peeled out of the area.

"So, obviously I missed something." Glenn said awkwardly looking at Helena.

"Shut up." Daryl yelled back at him. They finally caught up to the rest of the group, they were camped just outside of town. As soon as Daryl stopped the truck Helena jumped out and walked quickly toward the R.V. Daryl got out of the truck and stood next to it. "Helena, Helena." He yelled. "Come back here."

"Why?" she said not turning around to look at him.  
>"Cause I asked you too." He said.<p>

"Ooohh look I'm going to the RV all by my lonesome, don't you wanna follow me in, check for monsters?" she said sarcastically.

"Helena stop it," Daryl sounded exhausted.

"Whatever, Dad." She said as she closed the door to the RV.

"Yeah, real mature." He said turning and walking over to the fire. No one asked, Daryl would bite their head off if they did. He waited a few hours, then he went in to check on her. She was sitting at the table, playing with her necklace. She looked up as he came in and watched as he leaned against the countertop. They didn't talk for several minutes, finally Daryl broke the silence. "You're a real hard person to please." He said looking down. She looked at him cautiously.

"Well you did save me so, thanks I guess." Daryl scoffed and shook his head. _She is so damn stubborn._ Daryl stood up and moved closer, putting his hands on the table, resting his weight there.

"You can scream at me, you can hit me if you want, just don't run off alright? You could get hurt." He said his voice was gruff and harsh but she sensed vulnerability.

"You were worried about me?" She dropped her hand from her necklace and gave him a sweet half smile.

"I just don't wanna burn any more bodies." He said looking away from her.

She rested her hand lightly on his; they both looked down at their hands together. For him it was the best feeling of warmth and fondness, for her it was verification that he looked at her differently then all of the others at camp. She looked up at him again but did not smile. "I knew you would come for me Daryl, you're a good man like that."


	6. Chapter 6

***** Ok guys I've been hinting at her back story so here it is… Gotta love the drama*****

"I knew you would come for me Daryl, you're a good man like that."

Daryl had been called many things, asshole being the most common, but never had he been called a good man. "What?"

"You try so hard to turn off everything but anger, it doesn't work. I mean don't get me wrong, you're an asshole," _There it is,_ "but you're an asshole that actually gives a damn." She waited for his reaction, for him to yell at her and insult her. She knew it would come, it always did. Anytime anyone tried to talk about something that made him uncomfortable, but it never came.

"You are right out of your head, woman." Helena only huffed in response. "You wanna tell the story of that necklace you literally risked your damn neck for?" Daryl said never lifting his gaze from their hands. The contact that he would never break.

Helena laughed. "Evangeline. She was twelve. Looked almost exactly like Sophia. She died about a month before I met up with you guys."

"Only a month?" Daryl didn't understand, losing Merle still hurt, and he didn't even know if Merle was dead. Helena shook her head yes, but didn't look up. "How'd she die?"

"We were in the church, we went there for safe haven. It was night, real dark outside, a true southern night. I had checked outside, it seemed safe so, we went to sleep. I woke up an hour later and she was gone. Just vanished. It was pitch black out but I went looking anyways. I was so scared, I was screaming her name. I knew it was dumb but I was worried, I had to find her. Turns out she was just going to the bathroom, she come walking out of the woods like nothing happened. She was naïve like that, had no idea it just about killed me when I didn't know where she was. She could've been dead for all I know. Well anyway, we went back into that church, and all the patrons were there, they just weren't alive. In that tiny amount of time, the whole place was filled with walkers. I had no idea what to do. They all converged on us, no hesitation, only instinct. There were four on me, more than that on her. I never let her carry a gun; I was too afraid that she would accidently hurt herself. I fought as best I could but, I couldn't do it. By the time I got them off me and her, she was gone." She said. Her voice was flat and emotionless, she was usually so animated, but now she could hardly breathe.

"You're always so happy, it's like you don't have a care in the world, but she only died a month ago? Why? What gives you that?" Daryl said almost angrily. It sucked, this world sucked everything had been taken from them. He hated what the earth had become and everything in it. Everything has a purpose, it's fate. That's what everybody says. But Fate and Purpose don't give a damn if a twelve years old girl lives or dies. Or if the woman in front of him hurts because of it. Fuck Fate. All she did was smile.

"You learn a lot what people are really like when they are put in bad situations. You learn if you could steal from someone if it came down to it. You learn if someone has the guts to kill, maybe even their own mother. You learn if someone has the guts to live. Do you remember how everyone said that Life is either a glorious adventure or nothing? And how you learn something new every day? Well that's truer now than it was a year ago huh?" Her smile faded and was replaced with something more like a sneer. She was angry and hurt but she wouldn't let it change her.

"Is that what happened to your parents? They opted out? I remember you talking about it, in the truck I mean." Daryl asked.

"My dad did, my mom didn't have a choice. She was bitten. Have you ever seen anyone turn Daryl? Just before, they have delusions. My Momma was lying in bed and she was talking about taking us to the swimming hole outside Daddy's church. We hadn't been to that swimming hole since I was 15. A little boy downed so they filled it up. She was at his funeral, that's when I knew she was gone. I wouldn't let her be one of them, it's worse than dying. So one night when she was fast asleep, I snuck into her room. I took a pillow and held it over her face. God, she screamed and smacked me so hard, for so long but eventually she stopped fighting. And she would forever be human." She said continued the whole way through; even though tears rolled down her cheeks and she could barely catch her breath. She only paused for a moment, when Daryl turned his hand, enveloping her hand in his. He nodded for her to go ahead. "When Daddy heard she was gone, he disappeared. My older brother Robbie and I went out looking for him we found him sitting in one of the pews at church. He was so drunk so Robbie told me to wait outside. I left and was walking home when I heard a couple shots. He had shot Robbie in the chest and put the gun in his mouth. I didn't know he even had a gun. That's the funny thing about the virus, people showed who they truly were. It's like when people get a little liquored up at a party, they stop pretending you see it. Some become the life of the party other… they just fade into the blackness." Helena was staring off into the distance, almost unaware that Daryl was still there.

"It must be hard if it happened just a month ago I'm sure you miss her." He said

"No, not really." She replied twisting her hand in his, her finger coiled around his palm.

"Why not?" he was shocked, that was her sister.

"Because I had her for a while, that was God's gift to me for that world." She said smiling sadly.

"Ya well, God give you a forty-five for this one? You're gonna need it more than anything else." He said shaking his head.

"No," she said, her smile widening, "God gave me your for that."


End file.
